Contract Phone Plans: Telstra v Optus v Vodafone (August 2018)

April 2017: We’re currently in the process of updating this post – we’ll update this with the latest information soon!

Looking to sign up to a contract with a new phone included? We’ve compared the latest on-contract offerings from the big three carriers, as well as the monthly repayment fees for some of the most popular phones, including the iPhone and Samsung Galaxy.

Telstra

Bonus Offers: 12 months Apple Music

New Phone Feeling: Pay $149 after 12 months to replace your handset with a new handset (subject to conditions, see Telstra website)

Family Sharing: Data across multiple services shared across one bill at no extra charge

Extra Data: $10 per GB, charged in 1GB blocks

Plan

Included minutes

Texts

Data

Other

Price

iPhone 6S 16GB

iPhone 6S Plus 16GB

Samsung Galaxy S6 32GB

Samsung Galaxy Note 5 32GB

Optus Contract $40

Unlimited

Unlimited national + international

500MB

$40/month

$30/month

$39/month

$20/month

$25/month

Optus Contract $60

Unlimited

Unlimited national + international

3GB

150 international minutes

$60/month

$14/month

$28/month

$5/month

$17/month

Optus Contract $80

Unlimited

Unlimited national + international

6GB + 2GB bonus

300 international minutes

$80/month

$0/month

$14/month

$0/month

$0/month

Optus Contract $100

Unlimited

Unlimited national + international

10GB + 2GB bonus

400 international minutes

$100/month

$0/month

$8/month

$0/month

$0/month

Optus Contract $130

Unlimited

Unlimited national + international

18GB

Unlimited international calls + 10 days of Optus Travel Packs

$130/month ($100/month promo)

$0/month

$0/month

$0/month

$0/month

Vodafone

Bonus Offers: 2 month Data Workout – use unlimited data for the first two months

$5 Roaming: Use data, call and text inclusions in over 50 other countries for $5/day

Shared Plans: Share any Red Plan and combine the data allowance

Extra Data: $10 per GB, charged in 1GB blocks

Plan

Included value

Calls per minute

National Texts

Data

Other

iPhone 6S 16GB

iPhone 6S Plus 16GB

Samsung Galaxy S6 32GB

Samsung Galaxy Note 5 32GB

$40 Red

Unlimited

-

Unlimited national + international

1GB

-

$39/month

$47/month

$25/month

$32/month

$60 Red

Unlimited

-

Unlimited national + international

3GB

120 international mins to selected countries

$19/month

$33/month

$10/month

$23/month

$80 Red

Unlimited

-

Unlimited national + international

8GB

Unlimited to 10 countries + 120 international mins to selected

$5/month

$17/month

$0/month

$5/month

$100 Red

Unlimited

-

Unlimited national + international

12GB

Unlimited to 10 countries + 120 international mins to selected

$3/month

$10/month

$0/month

$2/month

$130 Red

Unlimited

-

Unlimited national + international

20GB

Unlimited to 10 countries + 120 international mins to selected

$0/month

$0/month

$0/month

$0/month

Analysis

Which option should you choose? This depends on how you use your phone – but in general:

Choose Telstra if you’re after strong network coverage

Choose Optus if you’re after the best value for money – Optus offers unlimited calls and texts on all options, and significantly better data allowances compared to the other providers.

Choose Vodafone if you need international calls or plan to travel internationally to take advantage of their $5 Roaming Offer

Without taking individual needs into account, as well as plenty of value-add through the family sharing offer we’d say Optus appears to offer the best on-contract phone offer in Australia, with the most competitive pricing.

Who offers the best on-contract phone plan in Australia? We’d love to hear your thoughts, as well as any feedback or discussion related to the article – comment using the text box below.